UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn defied an attempted coup on Sunday, as several members of his shadow cabinet resigned and his deputy Tom Watson expressed disappointment at Corbyn's sacking of Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn.

Corbyn said he would not quit despite the resignations and Watson's concerns. The Labour leader said he would not betray the trust of the party members who elected him 10 months ago, and vowed to "reshape" his shadow cabinet starting on Monday.

"I regret there have been resignations today from my shadow cabinet. But I am not going to betray the trust of those who voted for me or the millions of supporters across the country who need Labour to represent them.

"Those who want to change Labour's leadership will have to stand in a democratic election, in which I will be a candidate," he said in a statement.

According to a Labour source speaking to the Observer newspaper, Corbyn sacked Benn after "losing confidence" in him amid reports he was seeking a challenge to Corbyn's leadership.

"I was deeply disappointed to see Hilary Benn sacked in the early hours of this morning and equally saddened that so many talented, able and hard-working colleagues felt they had to leave the shadow cabinet," Watson said in a statement.

The chaos in Labour follows the shock referendum result on Friday in which Britain narrowly voted to leave the European Union.

Watson added: "It’s very clear to me that we are heading for an early general election and the Labour party must be ready to form a government. There’s much work to do. I will be meeting Jeremy Corbyn tomorrow morning to discuss the way forward."

Some in the Labour Party have been angry at what they saw as the failure by Corbyn - traditionally Eurosceptic - to articulate a strong pro-EU position and fight to remain within the organisation.

After Benn's sacking, another Labour shadow cabinet minister, Heidi Alexander, announced her resignation, saying that new leadership was required in the party.

"As much as I respect you as a man of principle, I do not believe you have the capacity to shape the answers our country is demanding and I believe that if we are to form the next government, a change of leadership is essential," she wrote in her resignation letter, posted on Twitter.

Alexander was followed by Ian Murray, shadow Scotland minister, Kerry McCarthy, shadow environment secretary, Lilian Greenwood, shadow transport secretary, Seema Malhotra, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Powell, shadow education secretary, and Gloria de Piero, shadow minister for young people, who stated she did not believe Corbyn could deliver "victory at a general election, which may take place in a matter of months".

However, Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham - who some had expected to resign as well - tweeted that he would not be doing so:

At an uncertain time like this for our country, I cannot see how it makes sense for the Opposition to plunge itself into a civil war. 1/3

Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation on Friday after losing the EU referendum and plunging his party into turmoil.

UK breakup

In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, the question of the future of the UK has come to the fore, as both Northern Ireland and Scotland overwhelmingly voted to Remain.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, called for a second independence referendum for the country shortly after the announcement of the EU election results.

"The UK that Scotland voted to stay in in 2014 does not exist any more," Sturgeon told BBC television on Sunday.

There have even been suggestions that Scotland could seek to maintain its relationship with the EU despite the wider vote to leave.

On Sunday, Sturgeon said on the BBC that she would even consider asking the Scottish parliament to block an exit from the EU.

"If the Scottish Parliament was judging this on the basis of what’s right for Scotland, then the option of saying, look, we’re not voting for something that’s against Scotland’s interest, of course that’s got to be on the table," she said.

In addition, Martin McGuinness - deputy first minister of Northern Ireland - called on Friday for a new poll on Irish reunification.